Has It Hit You Yet? Series

Note: When I preached this (I preach 30 minutes), I only got through the frist point. I took the second point and then used it for the first point in a topical sermon called, "Easter Angels." Eddie

Has It Hit You Yet?

(I Peter 1:10-12)

1. "Celebrities tend to misbehave in tiresome and predictable ways--tantrums, affairs, addictions--and we tend to think they’re spoiled. But one psychiatrist, Cornell’s Robert B. Millman, says they’re not spoiled, they’re sick. The affliction is Acquired Situational Narcissism.

ASN develops when once-ordinary people achieve extra-ordinary success, such as winning an Oscar or being named rookie of the year. This double-dose of adulation loosens people’s grip on reality and they become (according to Millman) “unbelievably self-involved because of the attention from us. We make it so.” [From Reader’s Digest April 2002]

Now, there’s a unique twist: It’s OUR fault celebrities act that way! Even though most of us will never be at risk of getting Acquired Situational Narcissism--our lives are far too ordinary--we all struggle with the temptation of becoming overly self-focused. "

Source: www.sermonnotes.com

2. Perhaps a more accurate statement is that many people aiming for fame usually crave attention and praise….because they are messed up to begin with.

3. Then there are those who receive compliments but do not believe them.

[Wife Taken for Granted Too Long, Citation: Robert Leslie Holmes, God’s Man (Kregel, 1998)]

4. A man accompanied his friend home for dinner and was impressed by the way he entered his house, asked his wife how her day went, and told her she looked pretty.

Then, after they embraced, she served dinner.

After they ate, the husband complimented his wife on the meal and thanked her for it. When the two fellows were alone, the visitor asked, "Why do you treat your wife so well?"

"Because she deserves it, and it makes our marriage happier," replied the host. Impressed, the visitor decided to adopt the idea.

Arriving home, he embraced his wife and said, "You look wonderful!"

For good measure he added, "Sweetheart, I’m the luckiest guy in the world."

His wife burst into tears.

Bewildered, he asked her, "What in the world’s the matter?"

She wept, "What a day! Billy fought at school. The refrigerator quit and spoiled the groceries. And now you’ve come home drunk!"

5. But most of us take things for granted. I grew up with coal heat…I so appreciated having a thermostat. Computers, e-mail, microwaves, cell phones….at first, they give us a real high…then we adjust and they seem more like necessities than luxuries.

6. The same is true in the Spiritual Realm.

5. In Christ, You have it so good. You are accepted, saved, indwelt by His Spirit, forgiven, made new…and will have a glorious future. But many Christians view God as a God Who is disappointed in us, Who is out to take away our good times, a Cosmic killjoy Who never smiles but is obsessed with keeping us in line. Although most lost people think this, many of us who know Christ still don’t get it.

Main Idea: If you truly know Christ, you have it good –real good.

Do you realize how good you have it?

I. The Prophets CRAVED to Understand Blessings We May Take for Granted (10-12a)

1. They spoke about the grace WE are receiving

• Christianity was not invented in the first century

• How does the grace we have received differ from those who were saved in OT times?

• Hebrews 11:40, "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Do you realize how good you have it?

2. They searched to understand the MESSIANIC Age

(1) its time

(2) its circumstances

(3) In Luke 10:24, Jesus told His disciples, "For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

(4) Daniel 8:26-27, where an angel told Daniel, "The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future." I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding

(5) Deep Bible study can weary out the brain…but it does so much for the soul; these prophets poured themselves into understanding what they could; so today, godly Christians avail themselves of a church’s ministry for many reasons, one of them is to gain understanding…

Do you realize how good you have it?

3. They tried to comprehend the MESSIAH

(1) His sufferings

(2) His glory

(3) Throughout Acts, the Apostles quote the OT prophecies referring to Christ or this era of the "New Covenant." Acts 2:23-24, 3:13-15, 4:10, 5:29-32, 10:39-41, 13:28-33, 26:3